Does anyone remember the big to-do about the book Moneyball? It’s a fascinating recounting of how former Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane took advantage of Major League Baseball’s notions about player skillsets to assemble his roster: Beane grabbed guys who would supplement their decent-to-solid tools with an uncanny ability to get on base. It revolutionized the way modern baseball talent is judged, and for a while, teams couldn’t help but copy this blueprint for talent accumulation.

There were a lot of celebrity deaths that occurred in 2016, a lot of them that really made you stop and compose yourself: Prince, David Bowie, Gordie Howe, Alan Rickman, and Harper Lee just to name a few. Yet learning today of Mike Ilitch’s passing stopped me dead in my tracks, and I felt a pang of grief that’s usually reserved for family members. Continue reading “Mike Ilitch, the Ultimate Fan”→

I’m not ashamed to say it: I was a fan of the Anthony Gose trade initially. I liked his speed, loved his glove, saw potential in his game. I thought he’d be a staple in Comerica’s center field for years to come… but it turns out he may be a bit of a head case and a perpetually minor leaguer because, well, nobody can steal first base. Continue reading “This Mahtook Fellow”→

To preface the counter-arguments, yes, statistics clearly state that Alex Avila was good offensively and defensively last year. He’s a left-handed hitter in a sea of Detroit righties. He has a passing familiarity with some of the Detroit pitchers.

I’ve never been the biggest Drew Sharp fan (a primarily skeptical writer for the Detroit Free Press), and in recent years I’d say I’ve become ambivalent to his Glass-Half-Empty style of journalism. Just bland enough to ignore, I guess; no hot takes. Good for him!

But today, while obsessing over the trade deadline, Tiger fans watched as Al Avila sat on tradeable commodities, and seemed to make no effort to upgrade the parts of the team that could have used an affordable (re: easily acquired) level up. And then Mr. Sharp wrote an article that can be summed up in six words: Avila did nothing, and that’s okay.

As of today, July 31st, los Tigres just swept their second straight series against two of the American League’s most competitive teams: the Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros. The offense looked absolutely dynamic, clobbering dongs at a staggering rate. The starters looked great, as everyone from the resurgent Justin Verlander to the new-and-improved Matt Boyd tossed several strong innings each. Even the bullpen has looked pretty good, especially in situations where it would normally poop its pants.

And due to this win streak — which, again, is impressive — a lot of fans are talking themselves into postseason success for this club, even though a month ago there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. “Buy, buy!” they cry, hoping to further dilute a farm system that had been moderately replenished last year due to savvy trade deadline transactions.